Turning Women’s Skills into Livelihoods for Economic Independence
My name is Sumaira Naaz, and I lead the Human Advocacy and Development Organization as its CEO. Within the organization, I have established the Human Advocacy and Development Centre, which focuses on skill development. I have been involved in social work since 2020. Before this, I was a housewife living a very simple life. For approximately 12 years, I voluntarily taught stitching to females in my area from my home. Eventually, my experiences in the community led me to think beyond stitching. I began thinking about how I could teach ten or twelve females in a small room and introduce them to languages, IT, beautician skills, and other areas.
This was particularly important because I realized that females have different interests and abilities. That realization led me to establish a broader welfare initiative rather than limiting my work to one skill. We are registered with Trade Testing Board (TTB) Balochistan, which operates under the Directorate of Manpower and Training, Government of Balochistan, and National Vocational & Technical Training Commission (NAVTCC), which is the primary federal government organization in Pakistan responsible for regulating, designing policies, and upgrading technical education and vocational training. I am continuing to work on further registrations and institutional development while expanding the skills we provide to women.
My work is focused on skill development and, above all, on motivating women from my community to turn skills into sustainable sources of income. Many women already possess useful skills, but they do not necessarily know how to transform those skills into a business or livelihood. I therefore took a small initiative to establish a community-support setup where women and adolescent girls could learn practical skills and, ultimately, use them to earn from their homes and within their communities.
I have been working in this area since 2020, while the registration of my organization has been progressing since 2024. Between 2024 and 2026, we have provided skills-development programs to approximately 550 females. Around 75-80% of these women are now running small businesses of their own. For me, this is one of our most important achievements because it demonstrates that skill development can contribute directly to reducing unemployment and empowering women with independent income. The impact of this welfare work can multiply beyond the individual beneficiary who is being supported directly. If one female learns a skill and subsequently teaches that skill to ten other females in her home or neighborhood, she can generate a small income for herself while also creating opportunities for others. To incentivize them, we encourage women to charge a modest fee for their training, which will help her support her household, and also become a source of skills and livelihood opportunities for other women in her community. This is the kind of multiplier effect I want our work to create.
We don’t just depend on the skills women have themselves, but also provide training in a range of areas- including beautician services, stitching, information technology, languages, handmade products, and resin art. We also teach artistic skills such as making decorative frames for Nikah (wedding) ceremonies and photographs, as well as charcoal and oil-painting techniques. I believe this diversity is important because every female has different interests, talents, and abilities. Not every female wants to stitch, and not every female is suited to the same occupation. Some are naturally skilled in beautician work, others in stitching, languages, IT, or creative arts. Our responsibility is to identify those strengths and help females turn them into opportunities.
Our main center is currently located on Barori Road in Hazara Town, Block 1, Quetta, in a space rented from Bolan Medical College. We are also working in other locations through smaller setups where females can receive training. We have a small setup in Chaman area, where we are teaching females these skills, and we are extending our work towards areas such as Saryab and Nawa Kili areas. Inshallah, we hope to cover these areas within the next one to two months.
We are particularly interested in reaching communities where there are no established centres or facilities. In Balochistan, women and girls may face significant restrictions on travelling outside their communities. Rather than expecting them to travel long distances to access training, we are trying to take skills development into the community itself. Our aim is to make it possible for females to learn, develop a livelihood, and eventually work from their own homes. This way we are empowering women, while considering and respecting their culture, traditional values, and not trying to break them apart from their families or social norms.
The motivation behind this work comes from what I have observed in my own community. Unemployment and financial insecurity affect families in many adverse ways. I have seen cases of divorce and abandonment, where financial difficulties were a major underlying factor. Household expenses, children’s education, poverty, and the inability of a husband to meet family needs can place enormous pressure on families. At the same time, women may have the ability to contribute economically but lack the opportunity, skills, or confidence to do so.
My response has therefore been to ask- if a man is earning, why should we not also enable a woman to develop a skill that allows her to support her husband and children? I want women to have the capacity to contribute to their households and, importantly, to stand on their own feet. If a woman can earn from home, she can contribute towards her children’s education, improve their future, and gain greater economic confidence without necessarily having to leave her community.
The Struggle of Building a Welfare Initiative for Women in Balochistan
Running a welfare initiative as a woman in Balochistan comes with significant challenges. If a woman may face 25% of the challenges in places such as Islamabad, Karachi, or Lahore, I would say that in Balochistan those challenges can feel closer to 75%. One of our greatest challenges is awareness and motivation. In many private and underserved areas, people have limited awareness of the opportunities that skills can create. I meet women who are already very good at stitching or beautician work, but they use those skills only for themselves rather than developing them into businesses.
Our first task is therefore to motivate them, bring them into the program, and help them understand that they can generate income from what they already know. We tell them that if they have the courage to take the first step, we can help them with training and marketing. The challenge is often not the absence of ability; it is the absence of awareness, confidence, and a pathway from skill to income.
A second major challenge is the lack of support available to small institutions. I established my own institution, but small organizations often receive very little institutional support. Human resources are essential for running any organization, and many institutions eventually close because they do not have sufficient staff or because they lack the knowledge and support needed to develop sustainably. I am currently running this institution largely on my own. I do not have consistent support from a government department or private organization. Whatever I am doing for the women and for my community, I am doing largely through my own resources. This is one of the biggest challenges facing small welfare institutions.
There is also a significant gap between the public announcements of support and what local organizations experience when they actually try to access it. Governments may announce funds, loans, or business-support programs, but the terms attached to those programs can make them inaccessible to small women-led initiatives. For example, I have applied for government support two or three times but encountered a markup. Because of the markup, I withdrew from the process. My concern is that if the objective is to support women-led institutions and businesses, the financing mechanism should not place them in a position where they have to accept interest-based financing. Even a small markup creates a barrier for people who want to maintain what they consider to be halal sources of livelihood and financing.
In some programs, a 5% return or markup may be included in the documentation for female businesses. Whether it is obtained through a bank, a trade department, or another institution, the markup appears in the formal financing arrangements. From my perspective, whether the markup is 5%, 1%, or even half of 1%, the fundamental concern remains the same- it is still interest and un-Islamic. For someone committed to avoiding interest, this becomes a significant barrier to accessing otherwise valuable government support.
I have also seen government programs that promise grants for women in business. These programs may involve several stages. For example, participants may receive training, followed by a small tablet, and then be told that a second or third phase will follow. One such program provided a short training and a small tablet, with the expectation that a later phase would provide further support. My concern is what happens to the women in between these stages. In one program, thousands of females received training with the expectation that they would eventually receive grants and establish businesses. Instead, after receiving a small tablet, many were essentially sent home to wait for the next phase, which never came.
Our approach is different. We provide approximately six months of training followed by three months of practice. Before completing a full year, our aim is for woman to be able to put a chair and mirror in her own home, begin serving customers, and start earning. This is what I believe meaningful skill development should look like- training should lead to practice, practice should lead to a service or product, and that should lead to income.
For this reason, I believe government programs need to focus less on completing training cycles and more on measurable livelihood outcomes. A certificate or a device is not enough if a woman is still sitting at home without a pathway to earning!
Another challenge is the limited recognition given to local organizations. When we conduct surveys or visit communities, we often do so using our own resources. When we apply for support at a larger level, we are sometimes not given sufficient importance because we are a local NGO. I understand that larger organizations may have more visibility, but I believe small institutions deserve support precisely because they are often closest to the communities they serve. I have a very small welfare institution, but through it I have supported many people and provided technical assistance to other organizations, both male- and female-led, whenever I can. I also provide financial assistance when possible.
I do this because I have experienced the crisis myself. When someone takes the initiative to establish an organization, they have usually overcome significant difficulties just to reach that point. If we do not support such people at the early stage, there may be no one else at a larger institutional level to support them.
Our team is another reason we have been able to continue. My staff and students are extremely cooperative, and I believe I have reached this point because of them. Without a dedicated team, teamwork, and mutual support, it is impossible to move forward. The fact that I am able to sit here and discuss this work is itself a reflection of the commitment of my team.
We also face the broader barriers that come with working in remote and vulnerable communities. These challenges can exist in Quetta, Islamabad, Lahore, or any other city in Pakistan. Welfare work will always encounter barriers. My experience has taught me that success is not the absence of barriers- it is the ability to confront them, find a way through them, and continue moving forward. I therefore try to approach challenges step by step. I may encounter a crisis or an obstacle, but my focus remains on the target- how can I overcome it, how can I manage it, and how can I keep moving forward? If we become stuck because of every barrier we encounter, we cannot create sustainable welfare impact.
From Small Local Initiatives to Sustainable Policy Support
Financial sustainability remains one of the most difficult issues for a small welfare organization like mine. These challenges become particularly visible when resources are limited. I have been running this work for five or six years, and there are many recurring costs, related to administration, training sessions, teachers, and salaries or stipends. At present, I personally manage many of these financial issues. I do not have a fixed amount coming from a donor, NGO, or other institution. I have continued the work with the help of the community and my own resources, while trying to ensure that staff salaries and other essential expenses are managed responsibly.
For some of our classes, we have developed a small community-based contribution system. Where families can afford it, we charge a small fee, generally around PKR 300-500. It is deliberately kept low. I personally cover many of the remaining expenses. This experience has reinforced my belief that small welfare organizations need structured support during their initial years. I would recommend that a donor or government social welfare department establish a mechanism through which qualifying NGOs and community-based organizations can receive support for at least three years. This could include a small monthly operational fund and, importantly, access to an office or training space.
Rent is one of the greatest barriers to institutional survival. Many colleagues have established good setups and invested significantly in their programs, but their organizations eventually closed because they could not sustain rent and staff costs. If government or donor institutions could help cover these basic costs during the initial stage, many more organizations could survive long enough to become sustainable.
This is particularly important for women who are trying to do welfare work. For a woman in Balochistan, simply leaving the house to conduct a survey, enter a community, establish a skill-development program, or pursue a livelihood initiative can itself be a major step. If a woman has the passion, skills, and commitment to work for her community, government support should help reduce the institutional barriers she faces rather than adding to them.
From my experience, I would recommend several practical measures to policymakers.
First, staff training should be a priority. If an organization is providing welfare services and demonstrating its activities through its accounts or social media, one of the most useful forms of support would be training its staff. Small organizations often have committed people but lack access to professional training in organizational management, financial systems, program implementation, and other areas necessary for growth.
Second, transport support is essential, particularly for organizations working in remote communities. Training alone is not enough if staff cannot reach the communities they are supposed to serve. For organizations working across dispersed or underserved areas of Balochistan, transport can determine whether a program is actually implemented.
Third, small welfare organizations need an initial operating budget. Whether the support comes from donors or government departments, there should be a transparent and achievable criterion through which genuinely active local organizations can qualify for assistance. The support does not need to be large. What matters is that it helps an organization survive the early stage and build the capacity needed to become sustainable.
Fourth, government financing for women-led businesses should provide interest-free or genuinely grant-based options for women who cannot or do not wish to use interest-bearing financing. A program described as support for women entrepreneurs should ensure that its financial structure does not itself exclude women who have religious or ethical concerns about interest.
Fifth, training programs should be linked directly to employment and entrepreneurship. A short training session, certificate, or small device is not enough. Women need opportunities to practice their skills, access markets, receive mentoring, and begin earning. Our own experience of six months of training followed by three months of practice demonstrates how a longer pathway can lead to actual livelihood outcomes.
Finally, I believe Pakistan needs stronger policies linking training and internships with employment. In education, private schools may give opportunities to people even when they do not yet have extensive experience. The same principle can be applied to NGOs, skill development, health, and other sectors. For example, NGO-sector internships can provide young women with three or six months of practical experience. After completing an internship, they can apply for jobs with some understanding of the sector and the experience required to work within it. If policies were developed to support structured internships, training, and employment pathways across NGOs, skill-development organizations, and health services, I believe we could achieve significant results.
In the context of Balochistan particularly, I would strongly support a model in which females receive training alongside a pathway to a platform job or livelihood opportunity. Training should not end when the course ends. There needs to be a bridge between learning and earning. For me, this is the central lesson of my work. Welfare should not only provide assistance- it should create the conditions in which people can become economically active and more secure. A female who learns a skill, practices it, starts a small business from her home, and eventually teaches that skill to others is not simply a beneficiary. She becomes an economic contributor, a mentor, and potentially a source of livelihood for other women.
I began this work with a small room and a few female trainees. Today, hundreds of females have received training, and many are already running small businesses. My vision is to take this model further into communities where women have skills and potential but lack access to opportunity. I believe the future of welfare in Balochistan lies in supporting these small, locally rooted initiatives. If government departments, donors, and larger organizations can provide modest but sustained support for rent, transport, staff training, technical assistance, and ethical financing, local organizations can do much more than they are currently able to do.
We do not always need large interventions. Sometimes, a small amount of institutional support at the right time can allow a committed woman to keep her center open, train another group of females, and create livelihoods that continue far beyond the original investment.
That is the kind of welfare development I want to see- not simply teaching women skills, but helping them turn those skills into livelihoods, livelihoods into independence, and independence into stronger families and communities!
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